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We've got more of a history with the Hurricanes than just that one series. I still vividly remember the 2002 series loss, and there's also the 2006 series loss. We only beat Carolina once, and that was in 2001, we're 1-3 against them in playoff series.

I seriously doubt tonight's selling out because of any 'rivalry' with the Canes. Like others have said, that didn't matter when we had 12,000 in the building against them on previous weeknights. Clearly the Devils have been more agressive with deals and giveaways this year (as I'm sure most NHL teams are), and that's been a factor along with an increasing fanbase and buzz around it.

I seriously doubt tonight's selling out because of any 'rivalry' with the Canes. Like others have said, that didn't matter when we had 12,000 in the building against them on previous weeknights. Clearly the Devils have been more agressive with deals and giveaways this year (as I'm sure most NHL teams are), and that's been a factor along with an increasing fanbase and buzz around it.

I agree, maybe a few fans bought tix due to their hate of the Canes, but the vast majority are going to support the Devils no matter who the opponent is on a given night.
They're having fun, games are becoming events to many with the lively pregame atmosphere around The Rock.
And all of the other factors that have already been discussed on this thread.

It's been a discussion in a number of places, but it's certainly a combination of factors that have helped us out this year, though I think if people were paying attention they saw signs of it before the Final run, too.

First off, beginning the year before the short MacLean era, it's clear the Devils began a very concerted effort to begin targeting new prospective season ticket holders. It's clearly been a success: the typical math you hear from people in the ticket office is that in an average year you lose and gain 1,000 season ticket holders, and for three years running now we've been hearing about 2,000+ STH's being added a year.

As others have said, this has in large part been a matter of people in approximately the 21-30 age bracket being added to the ranks as more of us get into careers and gain some disposable income, or have children that we want to see exposed to the sport. Given how young the Devils' fanbase largely is (personally, I was 10 when we won in 1995), this is simple demographics.

But credit to the Devils for working hard to target prospective fans, and credit to the Rock and Newark for continually evolving into a great place to watch a game, grab a beer, have dinner, etc.

As for the 143% increase in ratings, you have to figure a big part of that is that, yes, after a Final run and after beating Philly and the Rags in the playoffs we likely gained a bit of a bandwagon, but I also think there's some genuine new fans in there who likely didn't follow hockey much before the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Let's face it: the only time hockey really gets coverage in this market is if two of the local teams butt heads in the playoffs, particularly deep in the playoffs, so I don't think it's wrong to guess that we gained some new, real fans after beating the Rags.

The most interesting part of this is how hockey in the area evolves over the long haul. The Rags will always sell games out due to the amount of suits and companies that will buy up tons of seats every season (not insulting their fan base on this front, it's certainly not a negligible one).

But how much can hockey grow as a game within NYC? I know of adult leagues with some very good players on them in Manhattan, but do you hear about a lot of college or high school hockey tournaments in NYC or it's immediate surroundings? Contrast it with New Jersey: how much has hockey grown as a sport in this state since the 80's?

That's what makes this interesting; again, I'm not about to claim we're going to suddenly overtake the Rags as the "sexy" team in this area (they're on top of NY-Penn, for crissakes), but given that hockey as a sport seems to have more room and potential to grow in NJ than it has demonstrated in NYC, does this mean the Devils might wind up having the more passionate fan base as some of us continue to age, have children, see more kids get into youth hockey, etc.?

Obviously remains to be seen, but it's an interesting question to mull over.

The mutual hatred between the Devils and the Canes is why I loved the part of the proposed realignment that put Washington and Carolina in the Atlantic. DC is a natural geographic rival and there is a lot of history between Carolina and NJ. They'd be welcomed into the division well.

The playoff run turned my yonuger brother from a casual into an avid (not quite hardcore) fan and my dad from apathetic into a casual. The youth hockey dimension is big to NJ's grwoth too. NJ has a fairly robust (but not as big as it could be) youth hockey culture whose exposure to the Devils through those free ticket givaways cement them as fans. Youth hockey needs to spread from its hotbeds in Morris and West Essex Counties though and become more of a thing still though. More rinks are needed in Bergen County in particular, the county in NJ with the most Rags fans probably. Urban hockey culture might get there some day too. Besides Amerihealth, Newark has a rink in the Ironbound and HiN has managed to get a travel team together as well as a team at East Side High School. This exposes new demographics to the game which is a key in rapidly diversifying NJ. We are on pace to be the next state after Maryland (which is next in line) to reach "minority-majority" status, with whites making up less than 50% of the population. Hockey can't only be the game of suburban white kids in Morris County anymore.

I'm still stunned tonight wound up being a sellout. Friday has to be too you'd figure, unless the premium prices hurt attendance and they don't offer enough discounts. But it's the Flyers on Friday night.

Wasn't really a fan of Andreychuk either when we got him. I was actually happy to see those two go. Same with Housley, but I don't think anyone liked him in his brief tenure. I liked Gilmour though. Steve Thomas talked a whole bunch of **** about us during the 03 SCF. I think he was complaining about the officiating too. It wasn't a transition to start hating him since I couldn't stand him when he was with us.

Anyone else go to the game against the Isles with the big fight with Corey Schwab, and the Isles goalie back in 95?

lol i hated andreychuck too.. and i was at the game where corey scwab beat the crap out of tommy sodderstrom. i had the flu at that game too. i was miserable physically and it was the first and only time i ever sat in a luxury box too. but i couldnt even fully appreciate it cause i was so damn sick lol.

lol i hated andreychuck too.. and i was at the game where corey scwab beat the crap out of tommy sodderstrom. i had the flu at that game too. i was miserable physically and it was the first and only time i ever sat in a luxury box too. but i couldnt even fully appreciate it cause i was so damn sick lol.

I was there too. One of the only memorable games of that sucky season for me. The trip to Denver was cool too!

For ****'s sake, the Hurricanes made me cry at 14 years old after the infamous Game 7 in 2009. ****'s unforgivable.

That was brutal. Remember watching it at night... And then I was pretty confused and in shock. I hate Carolina. Very much.
Not to derail, and we talked about this but I remember we used to argue on YouTube back then. And we were both mad that night.

Was also at Petr Sykora's first ever NHL hockey game in Nov. of 1995. Which was also Mario Lemieux's first game back in NJ after he missed the entire 94-95 season. Of course in that game Mario scored a hattrick. I remember before the game my uncle telling me to watch 66 because one day I'm gonna be able to tell my grand kids I saw Mario Lemieux play in his prime. Not only did I see him I saw him score a hattrick. Also, correct me if I am wrong but I think Sykora scored in that game. So he scored in his first game ever.

I was there too. One of the only memorable games of that sucky season for me. The trip to Denver was cool too!

funny story. after the 2003 stanley cup parade me and my step dad were walkin back to our car and we ran into cory schwab cause he was marty's back up during the 02-03 season. we both ran up to cory and told him how we were there when he beat the crap out of tommy soderstrom. corey started laughing his ass off and joked that, that's like the only thing people remember him for. we told him he should br proud of that lol. he laughed and told us how his hand was sore for like 2 weeks after using soderstom's head as a punching bag lol. corey was a really cool, down to earth guy.

Well MSG broadcasts Red Bull games so maybe there's some lying around in the broadcast booth :3

Oh no. That's not Dolan Dust. Dolan Dust only stays on the 26th floor of the MSG offices (or was it 29 where the Execs are? I can't remember) or in the infamous Suite 200 at the Garden. He keeps a personal stash around his neck at all times for safe keeping.

funny story. after the 2003 stanley cup parade me and my step dad were walkin back to our car and we ran into cory schwab cause he was marty's back up during the 02-03 season. we both ran up to cory and told him how we were there when he beat the crap out of tommy soderstrom. corey started laughing his ass off and joked that, that's like the only thing people remember him for. we told him he should br proud of that lol. he laughed and told us how his hand was sore for like 2 weeks after using soderstom's head as a punching bag lol. corey was a really cool, down to earth guy.

I was a big fan of him after that fight! Of course Schwab was sent packing the next year, and we got superstar Mike Dunham. The last minute man cause he was usually put in the last minute of games so he wouldn't become a UFA the next year! He needed to play 25 games or something that year in order to not become a UFA.